


Fortunate Son

by Mercy_Rhyne



Series: Mercy's Bad Thing Happen Bingo [5]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Bad Things Happen Bingo, Blood and Gore, Broken Bones, Choking, Cold blooded torture, Date Rape Drug/Roofies, He's so unsympathetic, I am so sorry, I'm Sorry, Injury, Kidnapping, Major character death - Freeform, Murder, Remus is a dick lol, Roman deserves better, Torture, Unsympathetic Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, dryboarding, reader discretion advised, suffocation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:49:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27289687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mercy_Rhyne/pseuds/Mercy_Rhyne
Summary: For all their lives, everyone had always preferred Roman over Remus. Every single time, everywhere. And it irritated the hell out of Remus.So, one day, Remus finds out his much beloved brother is in town again. Impulsively, he makes the decision to pay Roman a little visit. Just to teach him a lesson.
Relationships: Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders & Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders
Series: Mercy's Bad Thing Happen Bingo [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1722406
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6
Collections: Bad Things Happen Bingo





	Fortunate Son

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry. That's all I can say about this
> 
> Warnings: (Very much) Unsympathetic Remus, kidnapping, use of date rape drugs (GHB), restraints, choking (garrote, dryboarding), torture (involves use of a drill, hammer and nails), broken bones, blood, gore, murder/major character death

For pretty much as long as Remus could remember, it had always been Roman. Everything was always about Roman, the entire goddamn world revolved around Roman. And the older he got, the more annoying it became. 

He had never  _ liked  _ his brother. Everyone always compared the two of them — they were twins, so it was only natural. And everyone always came to the conclusion that Roman was better. They didn’t say it out loud, but Remus knew it. Roman was the kinder one, the funnier one, the more talented one, the more popular one. It was always the same. They didn’t say it to his face, but Remus was well aware. 

Roman had always had more friends. He always got the lead role in the musicals their school organised. Dozens of people asked him out to prom rather than Remus. He was used to being shoved aside in favour of his brother by now. He didn’t like it, but it wasn’t as if he could do much about it. 

Going to college was a relief. Remus decided to pursue chemistry, while Roman wanted to focus on a career in acting or music — or both. Part of Remus wanted to do that too, but he didn’t want to be compared to his brother  _ again.  _ That was exactly what he wanted to get away from, no way he was going to subject himself to that  _ willingly.  _ Besides, he liked chemistry. So it was all good. 

From the moment he moved out, Remus didn’t speak to his brother much. Both of them were too busy with their own lives and neither of them cared about their sibling enough. They only saw each other around Christmas, when their parents would force them to come back home and spend the holidays with family. But other than that, they never spoke. 

Unfortunately for Remus, Roman’s career in acting actually took off. He starred in some local plays, he got ensemble roles in some bigger shows and eventually even made it into a number of movies, starting with small roles, but working his way up until he regularly took the lead, both on the stage and the big screen. Remus watched his brother’s ascend into stardom with gritted teeth. Of course Little Mister Perfect would become a star.  _ Of course.  _ Life always favoured Roman. 

And of course, Roman never mentioned having a brother in any of his interviews. Not that Remus minded. He didn’t want to be associated with his asshole brother anyways. Although he quickly got fed up with people on the street coming up to him, thinking he was Roman, until they addressed him and deflated upon seeing that they had, in fact, been wrong. As if things couldn’t get any worse. 

For years, Remus put up with this. But eventually, it became too much for him to handle. The mention of his brother made him sick. That pretentious little shit thinking he was better than Remus was, just because he was famous. He didn’t say it — because the two of them weren’t on speaking terms anymore — but he  _ definitely  _ thought it. Remus was sure of it. Annoying piece of shit. 

One day, Remus figured out Roman was in town. He didn’t learn this voluntarily, he just saw a couple of dozen people screaming about it on Twitter a few days ago. He didn’t exactly care about what his brother was doing back home in old Florida. He seemed to be having a pretty good life in LA with all the other pretentious shits. 

But, a part of him was still occupied with his brother’s presence. Not because he felt bad about the way their relationship had gone, not because he wanted to meet up with Roman, but rather because he  _ didn’t.  _ He didn’t want to be reminded of Roman. Even when the two hadn’t spoken for years, he was still compared to his older twin. Fucking asshole. 

It took a bit of prying and asking around, but eventually Remus managed to acquire some GHB through a colleague. He wasn’t sure what he was planning to do with it or where he wanted to go with it, but… his gut told him he needed it. 

Roman went to the bar one of those evenings, failing to go unnoticed by a few members of the public. Through their pictures, Remus found out as well. In a rush of impulsivity, he got the GHB he’d bought the day prior and got to his car, driving out to the bar where he knew his brother to be. 

As soon as Remus got in, he looked around a little, trying to figure out where Roman was hiding out. Remus spotted him sitting at the bar. Perfect. 

Immediately, he walked in the direction of the bar, pushing past some people to get there. He started to order a drink when he slightly bumped into someone. And as Remus started to apologise to said person, he quickly trailed off, eyes widening as he recognized the person. 

“Roman?” he asked, fully taken aback by the sight of his brother. “Long time no see! Heard you’ve been doing well, huh?”

Roman looked up, not too thrilled to see his twin, but not fully displeased either. And if he was, it didn’t show on his face. However, he was surprised that Remus wanted to talk to him in the first place. They hadn’t spoken in years. “I guess you can say that.”

“I hope you don’t mind me taking this seat,” Remus said, already moving to sit down. He signalled to the bartender to let him know that he would like to order a drink.

“As long as you don’t mind me asking where the sudden interest is coming from.”

Remus shrugged, waiting to respond to order himself a drink first. “Guess I got tired of this rift between us,” he explained, “and I do regret my attitude towards you when I was younger.”

Even if it was a clear lie, Remus hated having to say this. He hated having to admit to something like this, but he needed to have a reason to stay around for around thirty minutes. 

“Oh really?” Roman raised an eyebrow as he reached for his drink. “So what, am I supposed to forgive you now?”

Remus shook his head as the bartender placed a drink in front of him. He thanked them and paid what he was owed. “I don’t expect you to, honestly,” Remus told his brother. “But maybe we can… start building up something new? Something better?”

Roman hummed but didn’t respond immediately. He took a sip of his drink and looked at Remus, trying to think if he really wanted to give him a second chance. He had to admit that this silent argument between them was exhausting and he would like to be closer to his brother. But… did Remus deserve that? 

“You don’t have to agree, obviously,” Remus continued hurriedly, seeing his brother was reluctant to answer. “But I changed, honestly. I’ve been thinking about reaching out to you and- and now I run into you? Maybe it’s a sign, you know?” He sipped his drink slightly — but only a bit; he still needed to drive later. 

“Maybe it is,” Roman said with a small sigh. He ran a hand through his hair, paused for a few seconds and looked up at his brother finally. “What the hell, sure. One chance. That’s all you get.”

Even if it wasn’t a lot, it was more than enough for Remus. One chance was all he needed. 

He lit up and sipped his drink. “That’s all I ask.”

The two of them carefully talked after that, even though it was clear both of them weren’t quite sure what to say or do. It  _ was _ weird, to talk after years and years of no contact. Every now and then, people would come up to them, of course wanting something from Roman. Other than that, they were mostly interrupted. Roman had a few drinks, Remus tried to hold back, saying he still had to drive back home. At some point, he managed to slip a little something in Roman’s drink, seemingly unnoticed. The two of them continued talking.

A little more than thirty minutes later, Remus felt like it was taking effect. Roman stopped in the middle of a sentence, closing his eyes for a second, blinking a few times.

“Ro?” Remus asked worriedly, leaning in a bit closer, “are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah,” the older of the two said. “Just- just a bit dizzy, is all. I’m fine.”

“Really?”

“Really.” Roman didn’t sound sure, his voice was weak and the way he squinted his eyes wasn’t a good sign. “You spent years not talking to me, no need to- to get all… worked up.”

“You’re still my brother,” Remus told the other gently. “I’m still going to worry. You’re not looking too good, Ro. I think you had a bit too much to drink, right there. 

Roman didn’t respond, but instead rested his head on the bar, muttering something softly. That was a sign for Remus and he jumped up immediately. 

“Yeah, you’re definitely not good,” he determined, wrapping an arm around Roman’s waist. “I’ll take you home, you shouldn’t be out here like this.”

He then led Roman outside, albeit accompanied by a few weak protests. Luckily Remus’ car wasn’t far from the cafe, so the two of them arrived fairly quickly. Remus helped his brother into the passenger’s seat, moving to the driver’s seat himself. By the time they got to Remus’ home, Roman was already passed out. 

Remus led him inside and headed to the basement straight away. Getting his brother down the stairs wasn’t easy. But finally, they made it down and Remus sat Roman down in the chair in the middle of the room, tying his wrists to the armrests. He took a few steps back and looked at Roman, passed out in the chair, considered it for a few moments before he decided to grab some tape to seal Roman’s mouth. Just in case he started to scream once he woke up. 

He looked at his brother once more, grinning. “Good night RoRo,” he muttered to his unconscious twin before heading back upstairs. 

It took quite a while for Roman to wake up fully. Remus checked on him a couple times that night, but after two hours, his brother still wasn’t awake. At this point, he didn’t want to wait any longer, so he decided to go to sleep and check on his brother in the morning. He had the day off tomorrow anyways, so he didn’t have to be anywhere. 

Remus had to admit that he never slept as good as he had slept that night. Strangely enough, he felt calmer than ever. A little impatient, but calm. 

The next morning, he took his time to get some breakfast, shower and get dressed. As he went about his business, he occasionally heard a muffled ruckus coming from downstairs. Roman had clearly woken up at some point in the night. But he wasn’t going anywhere, so Remus wasn’t in a hurry. 

As he had finished all of that, Remus could finally go downstairs. He grabbed the sharpest knife he could find and headed towards the basement. As he approached, Remus could hear his brother’s muffled screams coming from below. God, that was satisfying. It probably shouldn’t be as satisfying as it was, but he really didn’t mind hearing those screams. Though he needed to make sure the neighbours didn’t hear anything. He paused, thought for a second and turned around to grab the tape he had left on the table last night, before going downstairs. 

As soon as he walked in, the noise stopped and Remus smirked as he walked down the stairs. He made sure to keep his eyes on Roman as he came into sight, wanting to see the look in his eyes as Roman realised what was going on and where he was. 

“Good morning my  _ dearest  _ brother,” Remus smirked as he got to the last few steps. Roman, obviously, hadn’t moved from the chair in the middle of the basement, amidst the clutter stored down here that was hurriedly shoved aside to make a bit of space. 

Roman looked up at whoever entered the room and recognized his brother immediately, even if it took a while to adjust to the sudden light in the room. 

His eyes widened and Remus just laughed. He’d rarely felt so powerful. He’d rarely felt so  _ good.  _ Seeing his brother there, tied up, helpless and vulnerable. Normally, it was Roman who took charge, it was Roman who was always in the front, always on top. But now, that title would have to go to Remus.  _ He  _ was in control for once. And it felt good. He deserved this. 

Roman let out an exclamation muffled by the tape in front of his mouth and Remus still just  _ laughed  _ as he approached and reached out to pull it off. He just wanted to have a little talk with his brother before getting to the point. Nothing wrong with that, right? 

“How are you feeling?” Remus asked with fake concern. “You were in a pretty bad state last night. Drank a bit too much, did you?”

Roman’s response wasn’t immediate. There was too much going through his head. When he had woken up tied to a chair in a dark basement, his memory blurred, he had expected to face some shady criminal out for money, with muscles and tattoos and scars. He hadn’t expected to see his own  _ brother.  _ He and Remus had never had a good relationship. But this seemed a bit much, even for Remus. 

“What the hell are you doing?” Logically, Roman knew he should be scared. And he  _ was. _ Just one look at the knife in Remus’ hands made his stomach do backflips and his heart beat just a little faster. But he was far more confused, and maybe a little bit pissed off. What did Remus think he was doing? What did he want to get out of this?

“I just wanted to catch up with my brother,” Remus shrugged, lifting the knife and lightly tracing a vein he had spotted on the side of Roman’s neck. “Is that so bad?”

Roman didn’t answer to that one. He didn’t know what to say and besides, he was a little too preoccupied with the knife that could most likely end his life if Remus wished to. 

Remus saw this, his eyes fixated on Roman’s, and he smirked. This had never felt so good. This  _ shouldn’t  _ feel so good. But he didn’t mind this at all. “No answer, hm?” he asked softly, tilting his head slightly as he brought the knife down and stabbing it into Roman’s upper leg, burying it to the hilt. 

Roman opened his mouth to scream, but Remus quickly reached up with his free hand and covered his brother’s mouth, muffling the sound. “Ssh,” he shushed softly, “wouldn’t want the neighbours to hear, would we?”

He gave his twin a far too sweet smile as he carefully removed his hand, but keeping it close in case Roman decided to scream for good measure anyways. 

But he didn’t. Instead, he gave Remus a glare, digging his nails into the palms of his hands in an attempt to distract himself from the pain. “You’re insane,” he hissed softly, his voice starting to tremble. 

“And whose fault is that?” Remus asked, slowly twisting the knife he had stabbed into Roman’s leg, getting a sharp hiss out of his older brother.

It hurt. It hurt so much, but Roman didn’t know what to do about it. He faintly tried to struggle against the rope tying him to this chair, but it didn’t seem to have much effect, other than irritating his skin. So that was useless. But Remus-

He couldn’t seriously be blaming Roman for this, could he?

Remus pulled the knife out of the deep cut on Roman’s leg and moved to wipe it clean on his shirt, but stopped halfway through and looked at the blood before deciding to clean it on Roman’s pants, despite his brother’s protests. If any investigation started, he couldn’t be found with Roman’s blood on his clothes, now could he? If Roman was found with his own blood on his clothes, that wouldn’t matter as much. 

“I wasn’t the one who always needed to outclass you in everything, after all,” Remus continued as he studied the knife to make sure that it was as clean as possible. “I was never Little Mister Perfect.”

“And I was?”

“You made me sick,” Remus simply said, walking around his basement, looking around at what he kept down here. “Still do, honestly. You always had to be better.”

“I can’t help it that I have more talent.”

Part of Roman knew that he was in no position to make smartass comments. He was tied to a chair and Remus was clearly not in a right state of mind. But he couldn’t help himself. Remus just… pissed him off so much. How was anything his fault? How was he to blame for any of this? He didn’t  _ cause  _ this. He didn’t ask for any of this.

Luckily for Roman, Remus simply hummed in response. He was looking through a drawer in a small cabinet, thinking to himself as he grabbed a few objects here and there and he clearly wasn’t listening to what his brother said to him. Roman only heard some objects being moved around him, but no matter how he tried to twist himself, he couldn’t get his eyes on his brother. Not being able to see what was happening behind him was absolutely terrifying. He could only guess what was going on, and none of his guesses were good. 

As Roman was trying to get an idea of what was happening, Remus had found some wire in the drawer and he smiled as he pulled it taut and held it in both his hands as he approached his brother from behind. He then wrapped the wire around Roman’s throat and pulled back, tightening it to cut off Roman’s breathing. 

“Consider this payback for all that,” Remus whispered into his twin’s ear, still pulling on the wire. 

Roman instinctively tried to lift his arms, to grab the wire and remove it to get some form of reprieve, but of course… that didn’t work. All it did was hurt him more. 

As much as he tried, he couldn’t breathe. Roman was desperately trying to take in all the oxygen that he could, but he knew it wasn’t enough. He was becoming light headed rather quickly, and he felt himself slowly slipping out of consciousness. His struggles became weaker and they cost more energy. But he realised that, if he really were to die like this, he wouldn’t even mind. Because he knew that death would be more merciful to him than the alternative. 

Remus also noticed his brother’s struggles starting to weaken and saw this as his moment to let go. He couldn’t have Roman dying on him yet; after all, he’d barely gotten to do anything. No, they needed a little more time. It had been so long since the two of them had spoken, Remus didn’t want to say goodbye  _ now. _

He turned around and put the wire away, but within reach, just in case he needed it again later. His eyes then noticed the drill he had stored away down here. He wasn’t that much of a handyman, so he never used it much. But maybe, it could really come in handy now. Pun not intended.

Remus knew that he shouldn’t get so excited over this. But he couldn’t help smiling as he picked up the drill and tested it out to see if it worked. Luckily, it did. The sound was almost deafening in the silent basement, but Remus couldn’t say he minded. Roman however… 

He had closed his eyes, resting his chin on his chest in an attempt to catch his breath. Every breath he took hurt and it cost him far more effort than it should have. He could still feel the wire digging into his skin. His wrists hurt from trying to pull himself free. He was barely clinging to consciousness, but the sound of the drill breaking the silence seemed to bring him back to life. Roman shot up and his eyes widened. Once more he tried to look around, wanting to see what Remus was doing — even though he wasn’t sure he wanted to know. 

“What are you-” 

Before Roman could finish his question, Remus covered his mouth, hushing his brother softly. 

“I’m gonna need you to be real quiet for this one,” he whispered softly, bringing his mouth closer to Roman’s ear. “Can’t have anyone hearing anything.”

He carefully let go of his brother and reached for the tape he had brought along. Seemed like it had been the right choice, Remus thought as he tore off a piece of tape and grabbed Roman’s chin with his free hand. 

Roman tried to pull his face away, but Remus’ hold was too strong and the younger of the two stuck the tape over Roman’s mouth as well as he could. For good measure, he added a few more pieces of tape, just to be sure. 

“There, much better, don’t you think?” Remus asked softly, patting the top of Roman’s head with a derisive smile. He hummed to himself as he walked back to get the drill. His heart started to beat a little faster in anticipation — was that weird? It probably was, but Remus couldn’t find it in himself to care. 

He walked back, stopping in front of his brother, who couldn’t seem to be able to tear his gaze away from the drill. Terror was more than evident on his face and it gave Remus an incredible kick. Roman deserved this.  _ Remus  _ deserved this. 

Remus studied his brother for a second as he considered his next move. The look in his eyes made Roman wish he could turn invisible, or get away somehow. He was so uncomfortable and every second that passed made him fear the near future a little more. He knew  _ something  _ was going to happen. But how and when and for how long? He couldn’t be sure. He knew something was going to happen, and he was unable to do anything about it. And that was terrifying. 

Finally, Remus kneeled down in front of Roman, having decided what to do next. “Now, this might sting a little,” he said, grabbing his brother’s left ankle, keeping the foot on the floor. “But that’s okay. It’ll be over soon.”

Before Roman could even start to think about what was going to happen next, Remus had already turned on the drill and put it to Roman’s shin, slowly drilling a hole in the bone. 

Upon hearing the muffled screams coming from his brother, Remus decided that the extra tape had been a good decision. It was difficult to keep his foot on the floor, but with a little extra force, it was easily done. 

The pain was excruciating. Roman had never felt something like  _ that _ . He squeezed his eyes shut and trashed against his bonds, trying to set himself free. Of course, that didn’t work and it only ended with him hurting himself more but he barely felt it. All he could feel was that agonizing pain in his shin. 

At some point, through the pain, he managed to command himself to kick out with his free foot, kicking around blindly. Roman managed to hit Remus’ shoulder a couple of times and he noticed that the pain finally faded away a little. He could still feed it throbbing in his leg, but the worst of it was over. 

That relief didn’t last too long, though, because Remus got to his feet and grabbed Roman’s chin with bruising force, forcing the two of them to lock eyes. 

“You really think you’re something now, huh,” he hissed softly, stomping his heel into the foot that had kicked him. “Try that again and I’m nailing your fucking feet to the floor.” He twisted his foot a bit, getting a muffled gasp out of Roman. He stomped his foot down once more, for good measure. 

Actually… 

Maybe that wasn’t such a bad idea.

But not yet.

Remus set the drill down and looked around, finding the rope he had used earlier. He walked back to his brother and kneeled down to tie Roman’s legs to the legs of the chair. 

“There,” he said as he grabbed the drill again. “I’d like to see you try something like that now. So… continue where we left off?”

Roman let out a few muffled protests, trying to pull himself free. Unfortunately, Remus seemed to know what he was doing, because no matter what he tried, Roman could not get himself free. 

Remus hummed under his breath as he turned on the drill again and started to make yet another hole in Roman’s leg, just above the first one. Again, he heard those muffled screams and Roman felt like he was losing his mind. It hurt. It hurt so much. Even with his eyes opened, he couldn’t see anything past the blinding pain. And this time, it didn’t seem to stop. No matter what, it didn’t  _ stop.  _

He tried everything he could to distract himself from the pain. He tried to count the bricks on the wall in front of him, he tried to focus on his breathing, he tried to think of the movie he had been cast for not too long ago — he doubted he’d live to shoot that movie now. But nothing worked. It was too prominent, too present. No matter what he did, he couldn’t distract himself. 

By the time that Remus turned off the drill, he’d made multiple holes in Roman’s shin, the pant of his leg coated in blood and Roman was sobbing, his chest hurting with his ragged breathing. He brought out muffled pleas to Remus — he hated that he’d been reduced to this, but he would do anything to get Remus to stop doing this. His leg hurt so much, he couldn’t even feel it anymore. He just felt pain. He felt like there was nothing left of his bone at this point. 

Even though Remus got up, he didn’t seem to be too intent on stopping. He gave his twin a broad grin and looked down, holding up the bloodied drill. “Hm,” he hummed softly as he lowered the drill slightly. “Not quite there, are we?”

He put the drill against Roman’s knee and turned it on again. He really shouldn’t be enjoying this as much as he did, but he really did enjoy being in control here. He’d never been in control. 

Remus did this a few more times, and Roman’s right leg got the same treatment. He was well aware that he was getting carried away here, but Roman needed to learn a lesson somehow, right?

By the time that Remus put away the drill, with a mental note to clean it properly once all of this was done, Roman was so lightheaded and everything was spinning and it all  _ hurt.  _ He could barely feel his legs anymore and at this point, the absence of pain almost felt  _ empty  _ in a way. His ears were ringing and he wasn’t quite sure if it was a cause of the panic or the loud noises the drill had made. 

Roman felt like he was either going to pass out or throw up. And he didn’t want to do either of those things.

The twins locked eyes for a moment and Remus actually  _ laughed.  _ He took one look at Roman and let out a short laugh. Just that fact made Roman sick. He didn’t know what he had done to deserve this. And he had never expected Remus to do something like  _ this.  _ Remus was a weird and unpredictable guy for sure, but this was beyond anything Roman had thought his brother would do. But maybe he had misjudged. 

“Not so high and mighty now, are you?” the younger of the two chuckled, taking a moment to look at what he’d done. It was one bloody mess and it was gross, but the sight of it still made Remus grin. It felt surreal that  _ he  _ was the one to cause this. 

“Isn’t this fun?” Remus wondered as he walked back to the drawers and shelves behind Roman. “It’s been so long since we’ve spent any time together. I’d almost be nostalgic.”

For once, Roman didn’t even bother to follow Remus, he didn’t even bother to respond. He was so exhausted and he was so ready to put an end to this. But a part of him feared that Remus would drag this out for as long as he possibly could.

“Silent treatment, huh?” Remus continued as he found a hammer and some nails, picking them up with a grin at the tool. “I don’t blame you. It’s much more pleasant if you’re quiet, anyways.” 

As Remus came back in Roman’s line of sight, he quickly noticed the hammer. It wasn’t exactly hard to miss and Remus wasn’t trying to hide it either. His eyes widened and he shook his head weakly, not sure if he would be able to take much more right now. 

Obviously, Remus didn’t care. He took one look at his brother, thinking of the best course of action. He was just making things up as he went and he was not quite sure where to go right now, but… maybe he did. 

He set aside a few of the nails in his hand, holding onto one as he approached Roman as he tapped his chin with the hammer softly, as if he was thinking. 

“Let’s see,” he muttered to himself. Remus had to admit that he didn’t know if this would work, but… he could try. “You should probably stay still for this. I don’t think we wanna fuck this one up.”

He pinned Roman’s hand to the armrest slightly and he noticed his brother’s fingers curling up, as if he was trying to get away. Unfortunately, Remus only had two hands and he needed both of them to make this work, so he couldn’t grab Roman’s hand to make sure he didn’t move too much. So it seemed he just had to trust that his dear brother didn’t mess this up for him. 

Remus pressed the nail in his hand to Roman’s skin, finding the best place with the least bone to hinder him. Once he had found the right place, Remus held on to the hammer a bit tighter. He pinned Roman’s fingers to the wooden armrest with the heel of the hand that held the nail in place. He raised the hammer and brought it down, getting a silenced gasp out of Roman as he drove the nail into his brother’s hand. 

He needed to hit it a few times, until the shank of the nail had disappeared completely. His fingers were stained with blood at this point, but Remus simply wiped it off, turning around to grab another nail for Roman’s other hand. 

Roman was sure he was going to be sick. He couldn’t take it. He could not take a second in this. If only he could get himself free somehow and get the hammer from Remus, but- with his hand in this state… he needed to get that nail out. 

God- just the thought of his hand being nailed to a chair was sickening. 

Remus got another nail and, in the exact same fashion, nailed Roman’s other hand to the armrest of the chair. Roman tried to hope that that it would be over — at least when it came to… nailing his hand to the chair. But, of course, he made a mistake in hoping. Because without a word, without giving Roman a time to recover from the indescribable stinging in his hands, as if he was being stabbed over and over and over, Remus brought the hammer down, aiming for Roman’s hands this time. He repeated this, and Roman was sure he heard something crack — and if it did, he couldn’t feel it over the throbbing pain already there. 

But Remus still didn’t stop, going for the knuckles and fingers as well, and Roman definitely heard multiple cracks. He dropped his head, resting his chin against his chest and squeezed his eyes shut, shaking his head as if that could make all of this undone. He let out muffled sobs as Remus continued. 

He barely noticed as his brother continued to attack his other hand. At this point, the pain was simply meaningless. It was there but it was far too much for him to deal with. Everything hurt. 

At some point, Remus stopped and Roman barely noticed. Remus looked at his brother for a second and put the — slightly bloodied — hammer underneath his chin, tilting Roman’s head up so the two of them could lock eyes. Roman barely opened his eyes, seemingly unable to keep them open too long. This, again, gave Remus a rush of satisfaction. He was in control of this situation and it felt so good to be on top of the food chain for once.

He stomped his heel into Roman’s foot once more, just to see his brother tense up. He considered giving his twin’s feet the same treatment as his hands, but decided against it. He didn’t want to have to clean all Roman’s blood out of the floor. That would probably be a real pain in the ass, and he wasn’t exactly waiting for that. Maybe it was time to move on, then.

“Truth be told,” Remus started as he put the hammer aside, “I’m getting a bit tired. Aren’t you?” 

Roman didn’t respond. He didn’t even look at his brother. He couldn’t. Everything hurt. He could barely keep his eyes open, he was so damn exhausted. How much did he still have to endure?

In the meantime, Remus stared at his brother, clearly lost in thought. He was trying to think of what to do with his brother. He couldn’t let him go, obviously. But he couldn’t keep Roman here forever either. 

Part of him did consider leaving Roman down here to rot. He could lock him in here by himself for a couple of days, that would be enough to get rid of him. But that didn’t feel quite  _ right _ . Remus couldn’t explain it, but he didn’t think that was quite what Roman deserved. 

After a second or two, Remus’ face lit up as he walked to the cabinets again and rummaged through the drawers, but he wasn’t able to find what he was looking for. Instead, he went upstairs, leaving Roman alone in the basement. But at this point, it wasn’t sure that Roman even noticed. 

Remus dashed down the stairs quite quickly, holding a few rags in his hands. He stopped in front of his brother and tapped his chin in thought. 

“Now,” he mused to himself, “how are we gonna do this one, hm?”

Still half in thought, he leaned forwards and removed the tape from Roman’s mouth, grabbing one rag with his other hand while placing the others in Roman’s lap. 

Remus managed to pry Roman’s mouth open, despite weak protests from the older brother. “If you even think of biting, I’m gonna make this really unpleasant for you,” Remus hissed as he pushed the rag into Roman’s mouth — as if this wasn’t unpleasant already. Roman let out some muffled cries and shook his head, trying to get Remus to stop, but all this achieved was that Remus grabbed his chin forcefully as he grabbed another rag. 

A couple more followed and with every new rag, it became a little bit harder to breathe. And when Remus, once again grabbed the tape and taped Roman’s lips together, that became a little more difficult once more. 

Remus put the tape away and walked around, stopping behind the chair. He then grabbed a handful of Roman’s hair and pulled his head backwards, so Roman was looking at him. He covered his brother’s nose, plugging it to make sure he couldn’t breathe at all. 

“Well then,” Remus said lightly, as if his brother wasn’t slowly suffocating in front of him, “I guess that’s that, my brother dear. I’m sure you will be missed and all that.” He smiled slightly, looking at Roman writhing in his chair, trying anything to make Remus let go of him, hurting himself in the process. “I hope you’ll forgive me if I skip the funeral.”

Roman looked up at his brother, still struggling even though he knew that he couldn’t get free. And even if he did, what was he supposed to do? He couldn’t even stand anymore, not with his legs in the state they were in. Even if he managed to set himself free, there was nowhere he could go now. It would be better to just let it happen. He was fine with it. At least death would release him from this hell. But a part of him still had some foolish hope to survive. And it didn’t seem to stop trying. 

It didn’t take long for Roman’s chest to start hurting in a desperate call for oxygen, his body calling for air, but no matter what it did, the air didn’t come. Roman couldn’t tear his eyes away from Remus grinning down at him. The fact that his own twin brother would do this to him was devastating, sickening. It was something that happened in movies, not in real life. Not to  _ him.  _ He wasn’t too fond of Remus, but he never took Remus for a killer or torturer. But people can be wrong. 

His vision started to blur. Black spots appeared, slowly taking away his sight. At the same time, his struggling weakened and Roman could feel himself slipping away. Every part of his body hurt. His head was spinning and he was going to throw up any second. But it didn’t matter. He would be gone before he knew it. 

And Roman was at peace with that. 

As soon as Roman’s protests stopped and his eyes rolled back, Remus let go of his brother. Roman’s head lulled back and he didn’t seem to move anymore. Just to be sure, Remus nudged him and he checked Roman’s pulse. Nothing. 

He was dead. 

The realisation caused a wave of emotions to wash over Remus, too much at once to properly decipher. Roman was dead and Remus was the cause of it. He would never have to deal with his pretentious ass of a brother ever again. Holy shit. 

He needed to get rid of the body. 

After a bit of deliberation, Remus decided to put Roman’s lifeless body in a garbage bag — which was more of a hassle than he had initially prepared for, especially removing the nails that kept his brother’s hands to the chair was a mess and resulted in several blood stains in his clothing and on his floor. 

After getting Roman’s corpse out of the chair and into a trash bag, he decided to clean the place first. Get the blood off the drill and the hammer, throw out the used and bloodied nails, get rid of the rope and the used tape. Then, he changed his outfit and rinsed the stained clothing slightly, wanting to make sure the blood wouldn’t set.

But what to do with the body? He couldn’t keep it here, obviously. Police would investigate Roman’s disappearance at some point and if they found him here, Remus was dead. But he couldn’t let anyone see him with the body either. So that’s why he decided to get rid of it somewhere at night. Maybe, if he left around three or four o’clock tonight, he might be able to find a spot to dump the body, away from prying eyes. 

He actually did it, didn’t he?

He actually killed his brother. America’s celebrity sweetheart. 

He actually killed Roman and now he needed to make sure he was going to get away with it. 

This was ridiculous. 

It was still the afternoon, so Remus spent the rest of the day like he usually would. Although the thought of the body in his basement haunted him with every step he took. He had actually killed Roman, and somehow… he found that hard to believe. But it was true. He did it. It happened, as surreal as it felt. 

Night came and Remus chugged some coffee to force himself to stay awake as he dragged the garbage bag with his brother’s body upstairs and into the trunk of his car. The streets were pretty much empty, which was good. If people didn’t see him leave with this garbage bag, that would be one less thing to worry about. 

He drove for a while, until he ended up in a small forested area a bit away from town. Remus stopped on the side of the road and looked around. It was dark, but as far as he could see, there was no one there. So, he got out and grabbed the bag out of the trunk, taking a few steps into the forest to leave the bag behind. After that, he went back to his car, thinking to himself he needed to remember to check the trunk later to make sure there was no blood or anything else that might incriminate him if it got to that point. And with that thought, he drove home. 

It was almost five in the morning when he came back; his little trip out of town had taken a bit more than an hour. By the time he came home, he noticed a few lights were already on here and there, including his neighbour’s. He would judge all of those people for being awake at this time of day if he hadn’t been awake at this time of day. As long as no one saw him, he was fine. 

Remus immediately went inside to head to his bedroom. He was, unsurprisingly, quite tired and was planning on using most of the day to catch up on lost hours of sleep. He didn’t have to work tomorrow, so he could do that. He knew he still needed to take care of a few things, make sure to get rid of as much possible evidence as he could, but that could come later. Sleep first. 

**Author's Note:**

> Eh- Happy Halloween, I suppose?
> 
> If anyone is interested, I will most likely be writing a sequel focusing on what happens afterwards, so... *finger guns*


End file.
